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Tag Archives: Alex

WARNING – SPOILERS!!! Pac Man, Back to the Future, and Blade Runner are only a few titles that make up the 1980s cinematic nostalgia trip in Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One, now playing in theaters. Based on the novel by Ernest Cline, Ready Player One follows a young man named Wade Watts who lives in a dystopian United States in 2045. Humanity, as Wade knows it, is plagued by a failing economic system, an ominous corporate-governing body, and a tainted outdoor environment, all the result of an energy crisis caused by global warming, corporate greed, and the depletion of Earth’s fossil fuels. Since the real-world is no longer a pleasant place to spend your time, Wade, like most people, spends his days in the OASIS, an interactive virtual reality comprised of games and puzzles from every video game, movie, book, or television show made primarily between 1980 and 1990, although there are a few exceptions. The OASIS is the mind-child of James Halliday (obviously Cline’s own doppelganger) who, prior to his death, left a hidden Easter Egg inside the OASIS that, if found, provides the winner with his massive fortune and control of the corporation running the OASIS, and that’s where Wade’s (or Parzival as he is named in the OASIS) story begins. Continue reading →

This week will see a whole collection of independent limited releases happening across the country. First on the list is The Big Short from director Adam McKay (Anchorman, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby), starring Christian Bale (The Dark Knight, American Hustle), Steve Carell (The Office, Seeking A Friend for the End of the World), Ryan Gosling (Drive, The Place Beyond the Pines), and Brad Pitt (Babel, By The Sea). The film, based on the novel by Michael Lewis, follows four friends who predicted the housing market collapse in the mid 2000s and bet against the odds with the national banks, becoming nearly instant millionaires. The film was last seen at the AFI Film Festival in LA earlier this year, and a further nationwide expansion is still expected for 2016. Continue reading →

Movie-goers will have plenty of choices when it comes to suspense in this week’s new releases. First up is the new dramatic thriller Self/Less from director Tarsem Singh (Immortals, Mirror Mirror), starring Sir Ben Kingsley (Schindler’s List, Shutter Island) and Ryan Reynolds (Safe-House, Woman in Gold). The film comes from screenwriting brothers David and Alex Pastor (Carriers, The Last Days) and also stars Natalie Martinez (End of Watch, Broken City) and Matthew Goode (Watchmen, The Imitation Game). You can watch the trailer above. Also coming out this week is a new horror flick, The Gallows, following a group of high school students who attempt to pay tribute to a horrific accident that took place at the school 20 years earlier, only to find the spirits of those dead still remain in the shadows. I’m sure you have already seen a bunch of previews for this one on TV, and while it entails new subject matter, it looks essentially like a Blair Witch Project meets Michael Myers mix, with relatively unknown actors and producers. That being said, this is the kind of movie you should definitely watch in the theaters for the full effect, so find yourself a date and enjoy!

Writer/directorAlex Garland‘s upcoming sci-fi drama, Ex Machina, will see a limited release this April 10th. This will be the directorial debut for Garland, who is known for penning such projects as The Beach and 28 Days Later, but after seeing the trailer I don’t think that’s going to be a problem that will affect the film’s popularity among movie-goers. Starring Domhnall Gleeson (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Unbroken), Alicia Vikander (A Royal Affair, Son of a Gun), and Golden Globe nomineeOscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis, A Most Violent Year), the film follows a young programmer who wins the chance to visit his CEO’s private retreat, only to find he has secretly been selected to participate in a strange experiment involving artificial intelligence and the beautiful robot that contains it. This one definitely looks like a pretty crazy mind-fuck, so I would definitely consider putting this on the Must-See list, if not for the story but for the special effects you can see in the trailer. You can see the trailer one more time here on MADE, then be sure to see this one while it’s still on the big screen.

The new futuristic A.I. film from director Neill Blomkamp (District 9, Elysium) titled Chappie is opening in theaters this March 6th, but next month, movie-goers will get to see a different kind of A.I. story that doesn’t necessarily involve revolution or all-out-war between man and machine. The new film is titled Ex Machina and comes from a script by film writer/director Alex Garland (The Beach, 28 Days Later), who also directed. Ex Machina follows the story of a young programmer, Caleb, who wins a week vacation to the company-CEO’s private mountain retreat only to find his reason for being there is to take part in an experiment involving A.I. encased in a robot resembling a beautiful human-woman. Sounds a bit reminiscent of Her with Joaquin Phoenix and Scarlett Johansson back in 2013, but this time we’re dealing with an actual robot that not only brings an erie human quality to the film, but also allows for the great special-effect sequences you can see in the trailer. Starring in the film are actors Alicia Vikander (A Royal Affair, The Fifth Estate), Domhnall Gleeson (About Time, Unbroken), and Golden Globe-nominee Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis, A Most Violent Year). This one really looks like it will be worth the watch, so definitely consider adding it to your must-see list; in the meantime you can check out the new trailer here on MADE. The film is scheduled for release April 10, 2015.

Even though Twilight pretty much ruined vampires for the modern generation of movie-goers, Universal Studios seems to have a pretty cool reboot project in mind that may help to bring the classic lore of monsters like Frankenstein and the Wolfman back to the big screen. Dracula Untold will be hitting theaters this October 10th and will be the first major motion-picture from up-and-coming director Gary Shore. The film stars Luke Evans as the young Vlad Tepes, who looks to protect his kingdom and his family from opposing military threat by making a deal with a supernatural being to give him the power to defeat his enemies. This, of course, comes at a high price, as Vlad finds himself becoming a spectre of that dark world, slipping slowly away from his genuine humanity. It had been rumored that this would be the first in a series of reboots from Universal as the studio looks to revive it’s classic monster-movie line up, which includes Frankenstein, The Wolfman, The Mummy, and the original Dracula with Bela Lugosi released in 1931. These rumors were recently confirmed by Dracula Untold‘s producer Alissa Phillips, who spoke with reporters from HeyUGuys at the UK premier this week, and the next project on the list will be The Mummy, which will be directed by longtime producer Alex Kurtzman. Personally this doesn’t really excite me. The Mummy has already been remade and spawned a whole series of terrible sequels, and the same goes for Frankenstein and The Wolfman, both which, by-the-way, have had remake projects released in the last 5 years, first The Wolfman with Hugo Weaving in 2010 and then I, Frankenstein with Aaron Eckhart earlier this year. It’s really getting irritating to see how little originality is coming out of Hollywood these days, but then I’ve been saying that for years now, so I guess nothing ever changes.

Following the successful reboot of the Star Trek franchise from director J.J. Abrams with 2009’s Star Trek and last year’s Star Trek: Into Darkness, many fans of the series were extremely concerned when Abrams took up the opportunity to direct Star Wars: Episode 7 with Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher, fearing that he would not be able to return for a third Star Trek movie. Well their worst fears have officially been confirmed, as Paramount recently announced that Roberto Orci would be taking over directing duties for Star Trek 3. Although Orci is no stranger to the Star Trek series (he co-wrote the first two movies with Alex Kurtzman), Star Trek 3 will be his first major picture as a director, so the fans, and especially Paramount, may be a bit anxious to see how the third installment turns out. Orci is currently working on the script with screenwriters J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay. Here’s wishing him the best of luck in his new endeavor!

Save Money’s own Alex Wiley will be live at Chicago’s Reggie’s Rock Club tonight. Alex released his debut mixtape entitled “Club Wiley” awhile back, surprising many people by the shear amount of dopeness it contained. We imagine that this show will mark the beginning of the campaign for his second project, tickets are $10 and the show will be all ages (Wiley’s only 19 himself). No word on any other artists performing, just a cryptic “Special Guests” line which could mean just about anyone. Stay tuned for more as 2014 starts rolling.

With this years winter campaign, sporting giant Nike has taken a different approach. Their newest commercial features the grit of Russia’s winter sports scene. With cameos from world class athletes like Alex Ovechkin, Alexander Kokorin, Darya Klishina & Egor Kaldikov among others; the commercial shows that winter is no excuse to stay indoors. Minnesota much?

It’s been awhile since we’ve heard anything from Alex Wiley, a couple of days ago he decided to release the video for “Own Lane” through the guys at Closed Sessions. Trippy to say the least, the track serves as Wiley’s “party/club banger”; check out the video above and stay tuned for more from Alex Wiley and the Save Money gang.